


All's well that ends well

by Strigimorphaes



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Complete, Fantasy AU, Gen, Kings AU, Mad King Ryan, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-10-19
Packaged: 2018-02-21 18:49:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2478737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strigimorphaes/pseuds/Strigimorphaes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six kingdoms, six kings and a game that has been going on for years. While everyone works to screw each other over through elaborate plots and assasination attempts, Gavin just wants to have one good party.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All's well that ends well

It was a very cold October. Gavin felt the autumn chill as soon as he stepped outside and saw mist as grey as the castle walls rolling out over the hills, as soon as he breathed in the air that smelled of water and distant thunder. He had been peering out into the dark night for a while time now, but only when they had been at his gates had he seen the men, the horses, the torches... A large carriage came to a stop in front of Gavin who straightened his back and adjusted his golden crown in anticipation. 

"Hello Geoff," he said. 

The older man bore a crown older and more dull than Gavin's. Somehow, it seemed heavier too. Geoff had black circles under his eyes but an honest smile on his lips as he stepped out onto the cobblestone courtyard and shivered even under his thick cape. He nodded briefly in response.

"We're all waiting for you," Gavin continued, "Michael came this afternoon, Ryan's been here since yesterday, Ray and Jack arrived in the morning... How was the trip?"

"Exhausting," Geoff replied, shaking his head slightly. "Thanks for the invitation, though. Needed to take my mind off of business."

"Absolutely." Gavin flashed Geoff a smile and led the way into the castle, taking long strides. "Just an evening with no countries to run or wars to prepare for."

"You've got whiskey, right?"

"Whiskey, wine... Everything." Their words and footsteps echoed as they entered a long hallway - decorated, as most of the castle, with the green colours of Gavin's crest. There were banners and heavy curtains and what seemed like a hundred doors, all leading to other rooms and halls and stairs. By one such door, Michael was waiting, arms crossed. He was wearing a long cloak with a bear skin draped over his head and shoulders. Gavin had heard rumors of Michael actually being posessed by the spirit of a bear in battle and regarded them as nonsense, but in the right lighting, when the shadows fell _j_ _ust so_  over the other king, he couldn't blame anyone for believing. A sword was hanging by Michael's side.

"Thank god you're back," Michael said with a relieved sigh. "Now that Geoff's here, we might finally get to drinking!"

"There's a problem?" Geoff asked.

"Well, right now it's just a bunch of dudes sitting around not trusting each other. You - Gavin - should drink the first cup and get some food ready."

"What're they afraid of?" Gavin tilted his head to one side like a confused bird.

"Poison," Michael stated. Upon seeing Gavin's facial expression, he continued, "I'm not buying into it. I think you'd poison yourself by accident to be honest. You wouldn't do anything like that."

"I don't blame them." Gavin said. As they entered the main hall where they were all gathered, he found it sad that it was so hard for them all to relax in each other's presence. That even now when Gavin had invited all of them in the interest of bonding and merriment, they all looked somewhat dead in the eyes. He saw that Ryan had a smile on his face all the same, sitting in an armchair like he owned the place already. He greeted Gavin with a flash of white teeth and a wave before leaning back again. Ray was sitting opposite him, and in between the two were a chessboard. Ray was planning his next move. His crown was the most intricate, made of intertwined gold and bronze with small, metallic roses in between: it was a masterpiece of crafting and proof of his country's wealth. He was the second most dangerous after Ryan, Gavin thought. If what they did was playing a game, then Ryan and Ray were the most skilled and the most ruthless. He regarded the others as well, figuring that Michael was the most impulsive, Jack was trying half-heartedly and Geoff was fading back into the role of an observer rather than a competitor. And everyone counted Gavin out of the race - not that he had a problem with that.  
The room was large, but still intimate, lit only by a few torches and many candles. Light was reflected by mirrors and polished plates of metal, giving everything a golden glow.  
Jack looked up from the book he had borrowed and closed it was a small thud. "Welcome, Geoff! Long journey?"

"Very," Geoff groaned, "I could use some whiskey about now. Let's get to it, eh?"

It seemed to Gavin like Geoff was just as annoyed by the general air of distrust in the room as he was. And at last, they could all gather around the table that had been standing decked for hours. While servants brought in food and drink there seemed to be a mutual though unspoken agreement that the politics could wait for tomorrow. That night, their conversations should be about lighter subjects - hunts, stories, simple jokes - and soon Geoff's laughter filled the empty space between them and the wine tasted sweetly of the last remains of summer. Gavin ate until he was full and then leant back, his head buzzing in that pleasant, light way that made everything more enjoyable. Ray poured the second round of wine.

"It's a nice place you've got here." Ryan said. "Cozy."

"Thanks, I guess," Gavin said. "I didn't have anything to do with the, um, construction or anything. Just inherited it." He shrugged and took another bite of meat.  
Ryan did not let the reply dissuade him. He leant forward and looked around like a connesiur of architechture. "Yes, Jack's the only one of us to really have built castles from the ground up. But those arches over there actually remind me of some of his projects. Jack?"  
Jack looked up, having been in the middle of a conversation with Ray about something Gavin didn't hear. He regarded the arches in question and then nodded, saying "Sure, Ryan. Those are arches all right."

"Right," Ryan said. The conversation veered away from the subject, but then all fell silent when Michael rose from his seat, the movement making his chair screech against the floor.

"Don't drink that, Jack!" he exclaimed.

Jack slowly lowered his cup to the table, then he opened and closed his mouth before saying, "That might be too late."

Upset, Michael turned to Gavin. "Do you have a medicus somwehere around?"

"Of course..." Gavin answered. "Did you see anything...?"

"I saw it!" Michael said. "Ray tried to conceal it, but when he had the opputunity - when Jack was distracted - he slipped something into his cup. I saw it in the mirror behind him."  
Jack rubbed his eyes with one hand and sighed.

"Ray..." Geoff began, his voice demanding some manner of respect, but Ray didn't let him finish the sentence.

"Come on, Michael," Ray said, "Don't ruin the night. Now's not the time for - for petty revenge."

"This isn't about me," Michael answered.

Realizing appealing to Michael would not help him, Ray instead turned to Ryan. " _You_ know I didn't do anything, right Ryan? You could see me all the time from where you're sitting."

"That's true," Ryan said, nodding sagely.

"I saw you!" Michael exclaimed. "Gavin, we can't let our guard down-"

Then it was Ray who stood up slowly, still looking composed compared to Michael as he adjusted his coat and spoke. "I won't stand for these false accusations." But Gavin thought Ray was only speaking half-heartedly. Ray then turned around and left.

Gavin had no idea where he would run off to - maybe the chambers that he had borrowed for the night. The only thing he was certain about was that Ray couldn't leave, for Gavin had ordered his servants that no carriages or horses were to prepared and nobody were travel before sunrise the next morning. So he didn't try to follow Ray, knowing that they would find him eventually. There were more important matters. And there would be no way he could slip away undetected at this time anyway.

"You feel, um, anything?" Gavin asked Jack, who sighed and rose from his seat, swaying almost immediately.

"I don't know. I -  I'll need a hand, if you don't mind..."

"Yeah, yeah. I've got a great physician, don't worry about it. I was prepared," Gavin said. He wondered if anyone else noticed that the joy had left his voice.

He led Jack out into the hallway and away to the rooms he had assigned his personal physician a while ago. It wasn't the first time there had been poison, making such precautions customary. It wasn't the first time one of the six tried to murder the others. There was only so much land on the continent and only so much grain and water. Only so much space to expand into. Still, Gavin had wanted one peaceful evening at least, even if not one peaceful night - and he hadn't gotten that.

"Of course he had to run off, that asshole," he hissed.

By his side, Jack nodded slowly. "He's better with a crossbow than any of us. Why try poison?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't know," Gavin admitted. "That's kind of why I like Michael. I _know_ him. He's not the stealthy type. If he's gonna try and get to you, he's gonna come at you with a sword. He's going to challenge you to a duel man against man." 

"I suppose."

"It's right in here, just to the left..."

Once Jack was securely placed in a bed, Gavin called a royal guard up to stand watch before he went downstairs again. He lingered for a moment to inhale the scent of the herbs and medical alcohol in the air. Then he was once more on his way.  
In the great hall, Geoff and Ryan stood sombre and silent, watching as Michael paced the room. Gavin lingered in the door for a moment. As soon as Michael saw him, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"I'm sorry Gav," he said.

"Don't-" Gavin began, but Michael continued,

"Was _one_ party too much to ask?" he asked nobody in particular - the accusation seemed directed as much towards the world itself as to the three men. "I'm going to find the bastard," he said, once more turned towards Gavin. "I'm going to have a long talk with him."

Geoff laid a heavy hand on Michael's shoulder. "Don't do anything we might regret."  
Michael brushed him off and left all in one brash motion. Geoff's hand hung in the air for a moment before he let it fall back down to his side.

"We should give them a few minutes to... talk," Geoff said. "Then we should get up there and see what's going on."

Gavin wanted to follow Michael right away, but he knew that Geoff's plan was probably the best. There wasn't much they could do but let him and Ray deal with each other. He didn't think Michael would kill anyone tonight anyway.  
Gavin sat down in a soft chair in front of the fire, warmth soon spreading from his feet throughout his body. He drank the cup of spiced wine and watched Geoff study the maps on the walls, the orange light making it seem like there were embers embedded in the fur lining of the older man's clothes. Gavin knew the maps very well - his father had had them made before Gavin was even born. As a prince, Gavin had explored the regions of the kingdom and marked down mountains and rivers in red ink. He had drawn some of the places he had seen, and the mediocre drawings were still lying around somewhere in his chambers. He wondered what Geoff thought of the lines and crosses on the maps, but didn't have chance to ask the question. When gavin put the empty cup aside, Ryan had taken the seat next to him. He stared into the fireplace, and the flames were reflected in his eyes, giving them a strange glow that made Gavin shudder.

"...It's too bad your party got spoiled, Gav," Geoff said. "What Ray did wasn't even a creative attempt."

" _If_ it was him doing the poisoning," Ryan added. "He's usually more extravagant. Remember that time with the roses? _That_ was creative."

"Your trick with the bulls was clever too," Geoff said. "Scared Ray away from pastures for weeks. I can't believe you really thought that'd get him, though."

"Nah, maybe I didn't. That was just for fun. Just showing off."

"I think my favourite attempt was actually Gavin's. Remember that time with the lava?"

"That actually got a good cat of mine hurt. That was not funny," Ryan said, but his voice didn't sound serious.

"Would you have liked it better if it had been you?" Gavin asked.

"Probably. I mean, I'm in on this whole thing. I'd probably deserve it. It's not the cat's fault it lives with me."

"Good point. You ever considered that maybe we should... Stop trying to kill each other?" Gavin asked.

"Often," Geoff answered. "But it's..."

"...Hard to start trusting when you're used to making assassination schemes for entertainment." Gavin poured himself another cup of wine. "Yeah, I get it."

"Our countries are small, " Ryan added. "It'd get boring without this game. And I admit I would find it hard to stop, just in general."

"I-" Gavin began, but his voice died out when he heard exclamations that could only have been said by Michael and the sound of heavy footsteps like someone running.

"Let's settle this," yelled a voice that could belong to either Michael or Ray. More footsteps. They were coming closer, moving down, down - and then past Gavin and the others. In atypical synchronisation, Gavin, Geoff and Ryan all rose as one, prepared to follow the noise outside into the courtyard. The main doors had been left wide open, letting in a cold draft that Gavin knew would be hard to get rid of. No amount of fire ever really removed the cold once it had burrowed into the stone. It could only be subdued. Instead of walking through those doors, however, Ryan intended to go somewhere else, and he made Geoff and Gavin follow him. He had noticed the small hallway that led to the towers, and after storming up the circular stairway, they exited out onto the ramparts. Many meters above the courtyard, they had a perfect birds-eye view of the situation unfolding beneath them.

Michael had drawn his sword, the blade glowing gold in the light of the torches. His cape had been thrown aside so that the armor he had been wearing beneath - a breastplate and bracers combined with various other pieces of more flexible leather - was visible. The fact that he had been wearing it the whole evening assured Gavin that Michael had always been prepared for something like this to happen. Ray had a sword as well, but it was not meant for slashing the way Michael's was. It was longer and thinner, made for fencing and stabbing suddenly, not the he seemed intent on delivering such a killing blow to Michael. The two just circled around each other, and even from the ramparts Gavin could tell that the air between them was tense and electric. He leant forward, his hands touching rough, wet stone.  
It was Michael who tried to strike first. Jumping forward, he went straight for Ray's unprotected right side only for his opponent to dodge out of the way and retaliate.

Ray's sword grazed Michael's cheek. A droplet of blood tickled down his face, and Gavin figured it was not a mistake, but a warning. When Ray attacked again, he was much more aggressive, aiming for whatever weak spots he could find in Michael's armor. Michael deflected every strike but one, and for a moment Ray's sword was embedded in Michael's arm. Gavin heard a pained noise escape Michael - for a moment time stood still - then the Warrior King swung his blade and took Ray by surprise. The blade made a red trail from Ray's his right shoulder to his left hip. Gavin could tell by the way Michael stood, by the way he handled his sword, that he meant for the attack to result in nothing more than a flesh wound. He didn't want to kill Ray. Gavin had seen him practice and knew how easily Michael could have finished his opponent if he had wanted to. But he didn't. He swung his blade once more, intending only to draw blood, but not to seriously injure, aiming for a shoulder, not satisfied yet...

If only his focus hadn't been so easy to break. If only he hadn't broken seven of Ray's ribs and sliced open the lungs. By accident.

All it had taken was for Ryan to yell incoherently from so high above Michael who hadn't known, couldn't have known, that Ryan or anyone else were up there. The sound was sudden and loud, startling in the cool, quiet night, and the shock of it was enough to make Michael lose focus in one trembling, terrifying instant causing the blade to go in a little deeper than he had wanted it to.  
And even though Ray was far away and slipping even further by the second, Gavin felt his eyes look right through him. Ray's shirt was drenched, but the blood was already turning light brown in the most mundane, undramatic fashion as he bled out on the cobblestone. Gavin found himself thinking that it wasn't right: the Red King should perish in a pool of red blood, but nature didn't care. Michael dropped his sword, and the sound of it hitting the ground could be heard all the way up on the ramparts. He looked up at the sky or at Gavin, it was hard to tell, a mix of emotions on his face. Gladness seemed to replace anger that seemed to replace remorse, and then he stormed back inside the castle before anyone had a chance to reach him.  
Gavin turned to look at his fellow kings - fellow spectators. Ryan had traces of a faint smile on his lips, but he was not without a certain air of sadness either. He had, after all, just lost his favourite opponent. His shoulders slumped.

"I'll take care of him," Geoff said, gesturing towards the courtyard. His voice was utterly resigned and so, so tired. He turned his back on the two other men and began his walk down the stairs, but Gavin caught him saying, perhaps mostly to himself, "We're going to have some diplomatic issues tomorrow."  
That left Gavin and Ryan alone, but Gavin did not feel they had anything to talk about.

He had yet to figure out how he felt.

 

Gavin spent an uncertain amount of time wandering around the castle. He let the sound of his footsteps fill his mind like it filled the empty space in the corridors. He let the light of the rising moon fill his vision as he stared out at it every time he passed another high, arched window. He walked past the ashen tapestries on the walls, enveloping heroes and villains of old alike in his distorted shadow and when he found that he was ready to make a decision, he saw that his legs had carried him to Michael's chambers by their own volition. Michael had only slept there for a single night, but the very air felt different to Gavin. He found the door open, light spilling out into the corridor. Then he heard voices, Michael's and Ryan's, and that made him walk softly. The floorboards didn't creak and the carpet swallowed some of the sounds he made as soon as he was across the doorstep, so the two men didn't notice him. And for some reason, Gavin didn't feel like approaching them. Maybe it was the tone of their voices, for even though he could not make out the individual words, he could hear a conversation filled with barely contained fervor. He stayed back. When he quickly glanced into the next room, he saw Michael standing in front of the window, and Gavin supposed that he was looking down at the scene in the courtyard. Ryan was standing behind him.

Michael said something about either sores or being sore, Gavin couldn't tell. Determined to find out what exactly they were talking about, he tiptoed over to a hiding place behind the closet in one corner of the room. Neither Michael or Ryan turned around to see him, so Gavin made it undiscovered. From his new position, his back pressed against the old oak wood, he could peek out to hear and see much better than before.

"He was mocking me. Or himself. Both." Even from a distance, Gavin could see Michael's shoulders tense. "He tried to dissuade me at first, but then I think he realized his best bet was to beat me."

"And he's good, but not that good," Ryan said slowly.

"I'm worried about Jack. And... everyone else, I guess. You."

"Are you _insinuating_ that I'd would try to do something?" Ryan asked.

"Someone might," Michael said.

Gavin knew that they weren't talking about what they wanted to talk about. And it was Michael who was to blame, and he wanted to talk about guilt.

"Why'd you have to fucking _do_ that?" he finally asked, his eyes not leaving the courtyard below.

"You're blaming me?" Ryan asked. "You had the sword. You did it."

"I wouldn't do that. I tried not to. But because of you... I don't suppose you want to be blamed either."

"Maybe I don't care." Ryan reached for something under his clothes. Something hidden under his shirt.

"Of course you wouldn't-"

Michael didn't finish the sentence. Everything happened too quickly - too quickly for Gavin to intervene even if he had wanted to. With one vicious stab in the back, Ryan drove the knife deep, deep into Michael. The sound was sickening; Michael's howl of pain was even worse.

"Ryan - " he choked out, dropping to his knees, but Ryan removed the knife just as quickly as he had thrust it in and looked around the room for evidence that he had been there. He hadn't left any, of course, but he found Gavin instead.

He didn't say anything to the young king. He just smiled a smile that was all teeth and no warmth and strolled away, knowing full and well that Gavin wouldn't follow him. He'd rather stay back and sit by Michael. Gavin knew Michael was lost, but in between the waves of melancholic sadness he was somehow happy - this was the easiest way for him to see Michael die. He knew who had done it and he knew how to hurt that person. It wasn't his fault that he had Michael's head in his lap, no last words coming from the king as he looked at his hand, sticky and red with blood, shaking faintly. Michael let his hand fall and his eyes close.

Gavin didn't know what to say to make it better for his almost-friend, so instead he just cooed Michael's name as softly as he could.

Afterwards, he placed the body on the bed. Now, he walked with purpose, with fire in his limbs and spring in his step, no longer aimless - no longer doubting.  
He was going to confront Ryan. He knew the man was still in the castle; Ryan would stay until the job was done. Gavin was pretty confident in the guards outside Jack's bed, so that made Geoff the next obvious target - or Gavin himself. But he quickly found Geoff in the main hall, dressed once more in his heavy travel cape.

"Hey Gavin," he said. "Do you know where I can get more of this?" He gestured with his empty cup to the just as empty bottle on the table. "Haven't seen any of your servants 'round."

"No. Have you seen Ryan? Where did he go?" Gavin asked. Then, "...Where are _you_ going?"

"Away, if I can help it. Sorry Gavin."

"You can't leave," Gavin began, "You won't have your horses-"

"Then I'll walk." Geoff adjusted his heavy coat and threaded his fingers through the fur. It had belonged to some kind of wolf - a direwolf, Michael had said, once protectors of the woods, now extinct - all long and grey like steel. "I've had enough of this. No more bloodshed for me. I'm going home. Want to follow me to the gates?"

"You're not afraid to be alone with me?" Gavin asked, already falling in step with Geoff as they walked. His voice didn't sound bitter.

"I don't think you could kill anyone... Well... Maybe on accident." Geoff smiled weakly.

"...Just go." Gavin knew his quiet response was unusual, but Geoff didn't question him. They made their way to the outer gates, and Geoff paused while Gavin opened the door. "Walk fast," Gavin told him.  
Then he stood for a while, watching Geoff's back grow smaller with the distance. The woods seemed to swallow him, cloaking him in shadows that made him look vaguely like another wolf walking between the trees. The wind had become bitterly cold.

When Gavin turned around, he saw Ryan standing on the other side of the courtyard. His back was against the castle wall and his head was held high. The grey moonlight made his crown seem like it was made of white bone instead of wrought silver, but his sword - that still looked like steel, sharp and deadly -

"Come on, Gavin," he yelled. "Don't be a coward like that..."

"And why should I fight you when you've got the advantage?" Gavin asked. "After what you did to Michael."

Ryan laughed briefly. He made even his kilt seem menacing. "What did you expect from the Mad King?"

"A better plan than just backstabbing people." Gavn pressed himself up against the gate and felt wood and metal against his back.

"Oh, but I did have that." Ryan took a few steps towards Gavin. He walked like he had all the time in the world." I even made a pact with Ray, but of course he had to... Fail. It should have been only the two of us at last, but-"

"That didn't happen. So you went about doing things yourself."

"Of course. I want your crown, Gav." Ryan pointed at the crown in question with his sword. In the dusk, his eyes appeared to be glowing, but Gavin did not let himself be intimidated.

"You're arrogant." He spat the words out and watched Ryan raise a single eyebrow in response.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked. "So far, this is going pretty well, I'd say. A few hiccups here and there, that's all..."

"I mean," Gavin said, "You might be mad, but I'm crazy." Gavin raised one hand in the air.

"What's this? Some kind of surrender?" Ryan's voice was still relaxed - too overconfident, Gavin thought. He hadn't noticed that all but one of the servants had left, he hadn't noticed the smell the way Geoff probably had.

Gavin licked his lips and smiled. "The whole place is rigged to blow. You're surrounded. More than a hundred barrels of gunpowder in those walls. Under us."

"That's your plan?"

Gavin shrugged theatrically. "That was the plan all along."

"Clever." Without warning, Ryan rushed forth with his sword held high, obviously going for the kill before Gavin could signal for the spark to be lit. But there was nothing he could do; Gavin made a fist and stood completely still for a moment, waiting for the rumbling to start. When it did, he hurried out of the gates, shutting them behind him.

The sound of the heavy doors closing echoed inside the courtyard, and moments later Gavin thought he could hear someone pounding the door, but the locks and metal reinforcements held. The smell of gunpowder and smoke in the air intensified around Gavin - and somehow, it made him feel alive as he ran for the hills. He ran partly to be safe, partly for the view.

What a party it had been.

From his spot on a cliff overlooking the castle he saw towers falling and walls crumbling as explosion after explosion ravaged the building. He heard no screams, only the man-made thunder rolling through the valley. The castle turned to dust, but it didn't matter. He had other castles in other lands now.

He wore a crown as golden as the sunlight the appeared on the eastern sky.

 

 


End file.
